IMD predictions on Hudhud path, landfall, wind speed come true

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the very severe cyclonic storm Hudhud crossed the north Andhra coast near Visakhapatanam between 12 noon and 1 pm today had a wind speed of 150-160 kmph, gusting to 175 kmph.

The IMD had initially estimated that the wind power of Hudhud would reach a maximum of 155 kmph but had revised it to 195 kmph on Saturday night.

Like in the case of Cyclone Phailin, the estimate of several top international weather sites about the actual power of Cyclone Hudhud has been proved to be incorrect and somewhat exaggerated. Most of these sites had predicted wind speed of 190 to 230 kmph at the time of Hudhud’s land fall.

The IMD has proved yet again that it is the most trustworthy source of information, estimation and prediction when it comes to tropical storms in the north Indian ocean. It had made accurate predictions on the path of Hudhud, strike area and even the time of landfall.

Apart from accuracy in predictions, the IMD centres in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh kept the government agencies, media and the people informed through its regular updates, alerts and SMS, thus playing a great role in disaster risk reduction and saving lives.